SEATTLE ― The wheels to the Blue Jackets ' season are still attached, but this past weekend made it feel like the lugs are getting loose.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli injured in game against Seattle Kraken
Patrik Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program , Adam Fantilli sustained an ugly leg injury , the Jackets gave up five consecutive power-play goals while being swept in a back-to-back that should've been at least a split, and coach Pascal Vincent apologized Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena for making intentionally inaccurate comments a day earlier regarding Laine's reason for leaving the road trip.
That doesn't cover all of it, but you get the gist. It was a weekend to remember and forget for the Blue Jackets (15-24-10), who have one final stop Tuesday in St. Louis before going into a much needed 10-day break for the annual "bye week" and NHL All-Star weekend.
Here are five takeaways to help break it down:
The Blue Jackets have endured more gut punches in their first 49 games than some teams absorb in a decade.
Their inexplicable penchant for blowing late leads reared its ugly head again Saturday night in Vancouver, where a 4-1 lead turned into a 5-4 overtime loss at Rogers Arena, and Sunday's first period in Seattle was arguably the Jackets' worst 20 minutes of the season.
While gutting out both letdowns, the Blue Jackets salvaged valuable growth opportunities in each game rather than collapsing into a useless heap. They got a point out of their collapse against the Canucks and nearly stole another against the Kraken on Yegor Chinakhov 's two-goal effort in a third period that began with Columbus behind 3-0.
"We needed to bounce back," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "We needed to make a decision (in the first intermission Sunday), 'What is this game going to look like?' We didn't like the first period. I don't think we were physical enough. We weren't skating. We were just watching and reacting after, so the guys in the room made the decision that we were going to get a little more physical."
The Blue Jackets have shown that type of grit all season, despite their many flops and failures in other ways. That's a key ingredient for teams that eventually develop a recipe for success.
"It's frustrating because you want those wins," defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. "We work hard trying to get this thing right. I'm glad that we're being stubborn that way, coming and pushing back. The flip side of that is we need to get them done."
The Blue Jackets started out with two months of excellence killing penalties, but they've since bottomed out in shorthanded situations.
After allowing three consecutive power-play goals to erase a 4-1 lead in the third period Saturday against the Canucks, the Jackets were torched by Jordan Eberle and former Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand on Sunday in the Kraken's first two power plays.
Seattle went 2 for 3 on the man-advantage, including both goals in the Kraken's dominant three-goal first, and the takeaway was how badly the Blue Jackets' penalty-kill units had dipped. They're last in the NHL since Dec. 8 in killing penalties (66.7%) and the issue appears to be getting worse instead of improving.
That needs to change back to the way the season began.
The Jackets put on brave faces Sunday, but there's no sugarcoating what the disappointment level will be if it turns out that rookie Adam Fantilli has a severe injury to his lower left leg.
Fantilli left in the second, limping, after Kraken forward Jared McCann 's left skate blade came down on the back of his leg. He didn't return, left the arena on crutches with a walking boot on his left leg and Vincent labeled him "questionable," for the trip's finale Tuesday in St. Louis.
The distant look on Fantilli's face said otherwise.
The best-case scenario is a short-term issue that clears up with rest during the Jackets' upcoming break, but the number of concerned looks on the faces of coaches, teammates, staffers and front office members seemed telling.
Stay tuned for an update on that situation ... good, bad or somewhere in between.
The Blue Jackets are in a tough spot with backup Daniil Tarasov , who allowed three goals on 10 shots in the first period Sunday against the Kraken.
Tarasov, like his team, has shown impressive resilience in the face of adversity, improved as the game progressed. Still, if we're being honest, Tarasov should probably be maturing into an NHL backstop while splitting time with Cleveland Monsters goalie Jet Greaves in the American Hockey League.
The problem is his contract, which requires waivers for Tarasov to be assigned to Cleveland. Despite being saddled with rough numbers while trying to shake the rust off from a knee injury, Tarasov would likely be snapped up by another team off waivers.
That's why the Blue Jackets haven't risked it.
Meanwhile, they're forced into training the towering Russian netminder in the most skilled league in the world. That process is what ultimately prompted Elvis Merzlikins to issue a "new scenario" trade request that's proven difficult to find.
Merzlikins is back in the No. 1 seat, for now, but that entire position grouping is a bubbling cauldron of inconsistency at the moment.
There weren't a lot of positives for the Blue Jackets to take out of the weekend, but Chinakhov is one of them.
The third-year Russian forward scored twice in the third on Sunday to lead the Blue Jackets back in a game they trailed 3-0, and he feels that's just scratching the surface of his potential.
As Chinakhov's comfort level in the NHL grows, so does his ability to find scoring opportunities and bury goals with them. He's second on the team with 14 goals, one behind Kirill Marchenko , and is tied for fifth in scoring with rookie Dmitri Voronkov at 24 points each.
Chinakhov, the 21stoverall pick in 2020, is becoming a legitimate top-six NHL scoring threat for the Jackets, who are turning him into a powerful winger with a monstrous shot.
"I mean, this guy can shoot the puck," Vincent said. "He can skate. He's a strong young man. So, we saw a glimpse of what he can do. It's nice to watch. His growth has been consistent. I call them those 'winning players.' At key times, he wants to make a difference and he tried (Sunday)."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 takeaways from Blue Jackets' weekend slide against Canucks, Kraken
